Did I Ever Tell You
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day 1097a: After the redheaded girl had departed, Rachel shared the impression she'd had of her with another special girl in her life. - Anniversary cycle day 5 of 21, shift A - THREE YEARS TODAY!


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 52nd cycle. Now cycle 53!_

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_**THIRD ANNIVERSARY CYCLE: **22 October 2009-22 October 2012: _

_So here I am once again, with another year completed, a new one beginning. In some ways it has gotten easier to carry on, now that I've finished university, though at the same time I had to go and make it harder, as I added these "shift days" this year. They allowed me to do what I couldn't do before, which was to expand my series with chapter stories where I might not have done it earlier, because then I would have to penalize other series and skip a cycle to make way for the chapters. Now though with the shift days, I could change that. It gets crazy, but I wouldn't still be doing it since I didn't still love it and have plenty to say. Then again, life is not going to let me do certain things the same way without adjustments, so I'm trying to cut back on the shift days, and also I've stopped doing notebook-then-type, so I can save money AND time ;)_

_I could ramble on for a while, no surprise, but I should probably stop. Before that though, I do have to give **big thanks and shout outs to all of you out there reading my stories**, whether you've reviewed and commented or not, because you make it all worth it. And to those of you who have left reviews and comments, a special thanks. Some days, you have no idea how much good you do just by taking the time, so thank you thank you! Lastly to those of you who listen to my ramblings and help me, brainstorm with me, y'all are my heroes, my stars. You know who you are and I'm squeezing each and everyone of you!_

**_Now on to this fourth year of daily gleekathon, beginning today!_**

_**This story** is a Sequel to A Moment That Shaped You, a Red series story, originally posted on May 26 2012._

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**__****This is a double shift day.** _There will be one more upload today: Honor & Duty._

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**"Did I Ever Tell You"  
(Older) Rachel, Sophie (OC) (Chloe Clarke, OC)  
Red series extra  
_(this series doesn't have a listing yet)_**

After the girl with the curls had gone on her way, Rachel had gotten back to her coffee. She looked out the window, watched the people. She spotted her next approach from up the street, walking along and speeding to a half jog as she neared the corner. She stopped, looked both ways, then crossed and came up to the shop's door. As she was passing the window, she would stare back to Rachel with a smirk. Once she was inside, she had walked up to her table, still smiling.

"Oh my goodness, it's Rachel Berry," she spoke with pretend shock as she sat across from her.

"Making fun of your old mom?" Rachel frowned.

"No, come on," she put her bag down at her feet. "You're not old," she promised, getting a smile out of her mother.

"Then I guess I can let it slide."

It was hard to believe her daughter, her little Sophie, was already twenty-two years old. Gone were the pigtails, the dolls... She wasn't so little anymore, had a life of her own, but they always had each other, just the two of them since they'd lost her dad. She could always see it in her eyes, how they both needed one another the same. She could have gone anywhere to college, but she'd chosen New York. Maybe she should have pushed harder for her to reach further, spread her wings as they'd say. But then maybe she was just unable to let her go either. Now she was about to graduate, and she couldn't be prouder.

"I didn't keep you waiting too long, did I?" she asked, pulling her long dark hair up on her head and tying it up. They were a lot alike, the two of them, except her eyes. Those were her father's, no mistaking it.

"No, not at all," Rachel promised. "Actually, I just had an interesting conversation."

"An interesting conversation, wow," Sophie smiled. "Who with?" she asked, as the waitress brought her coffee. They were all familiar with her preference by now. She gave the girl a nod in thanks, though her eyes seemed to trail back to the counter, and Rachel tried not to look like she knew why. Sophie was looking to see if it had been him who had made the coffee, Julian, if Rachel remembered right. Sophie had had him in her sights since he'd started working here, a few months back. It was him who had made the coffee, from what they could see, though Sophie looked back to her mother before he could catch her staring. Finding her mother's smirk was just as bad. "What?" she frowned innocently, reaching for a sugar pack.

"Nothing," Rachel promised.

"So? This interesting conversation?" she continued her evading. Rachel obliged.

"Yes," she sat up, getting back on track. "Girl sitting at the counter," she explained.

"One of your fans?" Sophie asked.

"Yes," Rachel confirmed. "Must have been about... sixteen, seventeen."

"Hardcore fan," Sophie upgraded.

"I used to be like her," she smiled, thinking back. "I mean I was really like her. I've told you all of this before."

"I remember," Sophie smiled. "So this girl, she sings, too?"

"I didn't hear her, but from what she's told me, yes," Rachel nodded. "I don't know, I just get this feeling, I... Don't laugh," she 'warned', smiling anyway as she watched her daughter trying to hide a laugh in her hand.

"Sorry, just you and your... feelings," she spoke dramatically, taking a sip of her coffee.

"Don't knock them, they haven't misled me once before."

"Okay, so what was the feeling you got," Sophie conceded.

"If she is like me, and I know she is, then we might be seeing more of her one day," she declared.

"I will hold you to that," Sophie nodded. "If you're sure though, then I believe it."

"Oh, changed your tune now?" Rachel asked her.

"You were the one who always told me that if I really wanted something, then I wouldn't give up. You always encouraged me. You were the crazy mom to everyone else, but you'd just say 'I know you can do it, I believe in you,' and I knew you were telling the truth," she smiled, and Rachel returned it. "So if you say you have a feeling about that girl, then I'm with you."

"I've missed you..." she tapped her daughter's hand.

"Well maybe next time you go to LA for a month, you should take me with you, then you won't have to miss me," she shrugged into her cup.

"Finish school first, and then we can talk," Rachel pointed at her.

"Fair enough," Sophie bowed her head. "Now I'm hungry," she frowned, getting up. Rachel looked to her, seeing how she suddenly got fidgety. She was always an open book when she was nervous, and that boy at the counter had her stomach in knots. Sophie caught her looking and tried to stand up straighter. "Don't give me that look, it's not funny," she begged.

"I haven't done anything," Rachel returned to her cup. Sophie didn't look to believe her on that, but off she went to the counter. Rachel hadn't said it aloud, but looking at her now... She was just like her father... He'd get nervous, too. Twelve years he'd been dead, and she hadn't stopped missing him.

But then she'd look to their little girl, not so little anymore, talking to coffee boy Julian, smiling and laughing, and she knew he would be so proud of what she had become. They had always wanted more children, but after Sophie, they had never gotten the chance. Since the, kids like her, kids like Chloe Clarke, she just felt like she could and should help them. They weren't her children, but she would look out for them like they were.

In the weeks which would follow, the tale of her encounter with Chloe would continue on its way, and Sophie would point out to her that she was repeating herself, but she had no shame in it. This was tying back to who she had been, bringing her back to those early days, and it gave her heart the kind of jolt she liked. This world of hers had always been her deepes passion, and it hadn't gone away after all these years, after thirty-odd years in New York. It told her, just what she had always known... It was everlasting.

THE END

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******A/N: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
****In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
************always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!**


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